Who is Mitt Rommney? That's the question on the minds of lots of people this morning. What I knew about him was zilch, other than to recognize that he is a hunk of a guy and I'd heard that he was a Mormon Republican governor of Massachusetts, something that seems an extreme dichotomy. The Republican part probably being the more shocking than the Mormon part, when considering Massachusetts. Then I heard that his speech at the Leadership conference last Friday night brought a standing ovation and then yesterday he garners a 2nd place finish behind home stater Tennesseean Bill Frist. So just who is Mitt Romney?
As you can see, he is a hunk and definitely easy on the eyes ... a perfect TV candidate. But, good looks only garner you the teeny bopper vote, right? Not so fast.
According to Wikipedia:
Mitt Romney was born March 12, 1947 in Detroit, Michigan and is the son of former Governor of Michigan and Presidential candidate George W. Romney. Romney graduated from the Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills (which was then an all-male school allied with the Kingswood School, but they have now merged to become the Cranbrook Kingswood School). He met his future wife, Ann Davies (born in 1949), when she was at the Kingswood School.
After attending Stanford University for two semesters, Romney served for two and one-half years as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) in France [2]. He received his B.A. with Highest Honors and as valedictorian from Brigham Young University in 1971. In 1975, Romney was awarded an MBA from Harvard Business School and was named a Baker scholar. In 1975 he also received his JD, cum laude, from Harvard Law School.
Prior to being elected governor, Romney was a cofounder and managing partner of Bain Capital, a Boston private equity firm; the 1994 Republican nominee for U.S. Senate from Massachusetts, taking 41% of the vote versus Senator Ted Kennedy's 58% in the closest election of Kennedy's long Senate career; and from 1999 to 2002 the CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee in charge of planning the 2002 Winter Olympics, taking charge after the bribery scandal. He also sat on the board of office supply giant Staples, Inc..
Romney was elected governor of Massachusetts in November 2002 as a Republican, and is among those speculated as being very interested in seeking the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 2008. Romney is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He and Ann have been married 36 years and have five sons (Tagg, Matt, Josh, Ben and Craig) and eight grandchildren. Ann was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1998.
So, it turns out that he is definitely more than just a pretty face.
In an extended entry, we read:
Romney first obtained national attention with the 2002 Winter Olympics being held in Salt Lake City. In 1999 the event was $379 million in debt, and there were damaging allegations of bribery involving top officials. In an effort to avoid a major embarrassment, Romney was asked to lead the organization of the games. Under his leadership, the 2002 Winter Olympics turned into a spectacular success, clearing a profit of $100 million. Romney himself contributed $1 million, and donated his three years of pay ($275,000 per annum) to charity.
Some will criticize him for his religion. I thought we got past that with JFK's catholicism, but apparently not so yet with the LDS church. This always confuses me since I chose the LDS church as the place to raise my own kids, even though I was raised a Presbyterian. I chose them because they are family oriented and have an overly strong belief in education. To me, the fact that Mitt Romney is LDS is a plus not a minus. It shows a certain grounding and maturity that is often not found in households of our post-Vietnam era. And one thing I can attest to from personal knowledge, LDSers know how to have fun. As a group I find them positive, upbeat, well-educated individuals with a healthy dose of common sense and a realistic view of the world.
We are going to follow Gov. Romney and will bring you more as we research his background and issue record.
Related:
Elect Mitt Romney in 2008! - a website devoted to electing Mitt Romney as President. Good coverage of the coverage of Romney as governor and his presidential bid.
Author if the site, Ann Curling writes:
BIO: I have been blogging about Mitt Romney since June 2005. Active in Politics since I was a teenager. First President I ever voted for at age 18 was George H. W. Bush. I spent the night of the election depressed at the election of Bill Clinton. While in college I co-managed a congressional campaign in Indiana, and when John McCain ran against George W. Bush in 2000 I was the East Jacksonville (where I lived at the time), FL representative. At the time I was a strong McCain supporter, but this time around I do not believe he's the person for the job. At that time I was very supportive of campaign finance reform, this time around I have seen the effects of it, and I don't like it at all now. I will continue to blog for Mitt Romney and offer anything I can to aid in his election as President of the United States and beyond.
On the front page of the site, the introduction reads:
Welcome To Elect Mitt Romney in 2008 Blog. It's purpose is to keep all those interested in a Romney candidacy/nomination informed on what Mitt Romney is doing along his journey to the White House. I, Ann Marie Curling, the sites author, believe strongly that Romney has the vision and the strength to lead this nation in the post George W. Bush Era. I believe that he can be a force of moderation in an increasingly polarizing political landscape. When you come to this site you can expect to be informed, enlightened, and humored. Items that will be included here are media reports about Romney, Romney General Information (i.e. profiles, biographies, etc), and responses to blogs with negative messages about Mitt. I welcome you to visit this site often, and participate in the discussion. If you have an opinion, please leave a comment.
Public statements for Governor Willard Mitt Romney from Project Vote Smart "Speeches and Public Statements"
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